LibreOffice ??? is it reliable or crappy software with ads?

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brannsiu

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Apr 20, 2013
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I heard about Openoffice, but It's the first time ever I 've heard about this--- LibreOffice. I want to give it a try, but is it trusted and reliable?? Does it contain any malware? Where is the official site for download?
 
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If you're using a Linux distro, chances are you're using LibreoOffice or at worst the latest release of Apache OpenOffice (which isn't technically dead, but on life support). If you use an Android smartphone, more than likely you're using WPS Office. If you're on Windows you probably clicked the "get MS Office" link that Microsoft pushes on all installs of Windows 10.

Pros and Cons:
For LibreOffice: really Free. Deals very well with both legacy and current file formats from any source. Interface is familiar, constantly improving and user-customizable. Same-day release on Windows, Linux and OS-X; Android still in the works, cloud version is still quite experimental. Cons: no VisualBasic support. Default interface still looks dated...
Each of the Alternative Office Suites are legit, the issues crop up when you do more than 'basic' or 'simple' things. For example macros in a spreadsheet, formatting of a document, inserting specialized content, etc. This is when someone with Microsoft Office opens the same file and gets totally different results than what you see on your screen. I have been using WPS Office for a few years now and I will say it is the best of the bunch in compatibility with people with true Microsoft Office application.
 




Hello What does it mean by WPS Office? Another free office independent of LibreOffice and Openoffice? I am confused!

In fact, I mostly only use "basic" or "simple" function. Like creating simple tables with some text . Is WPS office the best free option for me??
 

Easy to Google: https://www.google.com/search?q=WPS+office&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

You'd probably be better served by LibreOffice.
 
Libreoffice is the spiritual and technical successor to OpenOffice. OpenOffice is dead, Libreoffice is a fork of openoffice that happened after Oracle bought Sun and changed the open office license. No new development happens in open office since Oracle gave it to the Apache foundation all new developmental happens in Libreoffice.

WPS office is Chinese freeware (not opensource). Might as well just install spyware on your computer
 


Actually it is the newer version of Kingsoft and NO it does NOT contain spyware. Yes they all will have ADs in some way (upgrade now! buy this antivirus! etc) but it doesn't SPAM like your asserting...
 
Kingsoft/WPS is closed source binary coming from China. There is no way you can argue that it does or does not contain any sort of spyware, bitcoin miner, keylogger.. etc because it is a black box. The point is you do not know. No one except the developers would know.

This is the opensource forum and it is a completely justified opinion.
 


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WPS_Office
June 6, 2014, all Kingsoft Office products were renamed WPS Office.[15]

June 21, 2016, WPS Office Software for Windows became generally available as Freemium software, with no subscription needed.[16]


*points Skittle at the Windmills and wishes him luck slaying his dragons*
 
No 'dragons' here. Chinese products have a long history of inserting backdoors into everything. I am surprised someone with your claimed amount of certifications would trust black box binaries from China but I won't tell you what to and what not run on your computer. It's the users choice to what software to trust.
 


I you get LibreOffice from official website http://www.libreoffice.org/ then there is no bundled mal/adware for sure.

I am using LibreOffice for many years both home and in our company so no problem there. No ads in the software.
Recommend you at least to try it. I like LibreOffice Writer much more than MS Word and LibreOffice Draw is great tool for simple graphics like flowcharts, business cards, leaflets etc.
Calc maybe cannot replace Excel for advanced users but still can solve most tasks.
LibreOffice Impress is enough to make my presentations.
I used MS Access only few times so I do not use LibreOffice Base - cannot compare here.
 
If you're using a Linux distro, chances are you're using LibreoOffice or at worst the latest release of Apache OpenOffice (which isn't technically dead, but on life support). If you use an Android smartphone, more than likely you're using WPS Office. If you're on Windows you probably clicked the "get MS Office" link that Microsoft pushes on all installs of Windows 10.

Pros and Cons:
For LibreOffice: really Free. Deals very well with both legacy and current file formats from any source. Interface is familiar, constantly improving and user-customizable. Same-day release on Windows, Linux and OS-X; Android still in the works, cloud version is still quite experimental. Cons: no VisualBasic support. Default interface still looks dated.
For MS Office: the reference. Cons: Expensive, quite unstable. Differed release on Windows on OS-X. No desktop Linux version, Android version is questionable.
For Kingsoft/WPS Office: free. Very compatible with recent .docx versions. Nice interface. Cons: Android only. Black box. Ads. Only supports recent MS Office file formats.

I prefer LibreOffice due to its much better handling of styles in Writer, as I frequently have to type long documents with images, TOC, footnotes, etc. and I don't feel like learning LaTeX. Word, eventhough it's gotten better on that front, still feels clunky and unreliable when it comes to chaining styles. WPS Office on the other hand regularly gets the boot as I don't feel like constantly converting my .odt files into .docx, as Office 2013 and up do deal with ODF files well enough now.
 
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